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355:1 -- Xeno fails to kill a Shadowlord
Summary We traveled to the ice citadel to destroy the shadow lords. We did not succeed however we did find out the cultists are trying to build a gate to summon something. Which we destroyed. Notable Lore - Shadow cultists can turn real things into shadow versions of themselves. This process can probably be reversed (although how easily remains to be seen). - Shadow cultists have at least one more shadow dragon somewhere. - Shadow cultists are attempting to summon something using a mass sacrifice and a gate. - Shadow cultists can (in small groups) summon Dark Lords who are already free in Mithrasia with a fairly quick and simple magic. Loot None. However, someone did briefly pick up a knife imbued with the thousands of lives it had taken. Xeno's Report topping The Shadow or how Ash-Hammer lost his groove co-staring new magpie, Hedwig the worlds greatest dwarf wizard, and Aria the token elf I think enough people now know it is pointless in trying to hide it, I Xeno Shadow Bane have reached new highs of magic. I have been taught by a very powerful individual who I believe wishes to remain unknown but I would be willing to teach others who have reached the top of "book magic" free-form magic. Now onto my tale, we set out from Witmouth with the intention of binding or discorperating a Dread Lord of the Shadow. I used my magic to transport us into the icy territory but outside of the immediate range of an magic sensor they might have set up at the citadel. We arrived in a flurry of snow and ice in the pitch blackness, without our bearing I used a piece of the citadel to create a compass to find our way, but my new magic has a mind of its own and insteed on a compass what I had was a very powerful magnet drawing the ice to the citadel, naturally I held on and Ash-hammer grasped me coming along for the ride. We made excellent time until we were ambushed by shadow bats and I had to drop my "compass" after vanquishing these foes we continued to the citadel. when we arrived Magpie, Ash-Hammer and I crested a ridge near the citadel and what we saw turned my blood cold. A hoard of shadows and a huge gateway on a raised platform, big enough even for a shadow lord or perhaps The Shadow itself. Sensing the warmth from magpie the shadows started to swarm us so I tried to enhance his natural body heat as to burn away the shadows, once again my magic had a mind of its own and Magpie grew and change becoming a giant flaming celestial dragon. He carried Ash-Hammer towards the gate and I still with a hoard of approaching shadow beings I summoned my magic once again to turn a self of rock into lava, once again my magic went beyond my intentions and summoned forth a volcano. Trapped between a volcano and a hoard of shadow I had little choice but to attempt a spell I had developed which turns the user into a comet of fire and launches them forward, originally I had created this for a transit spell but it is a bit dangerous as the only way to stop is to hit something, which in this case it was a dragon bound in chains, on impact the chains dissipated and the dragon was freed, a nearby shadow dragon lunged into battle with the freed one. A loud crash from nearby informed me that the gate was destroyed, but my keen senses inform me something had teleported over to where the gate had fallen, could no longer see Magpie so I cometted over to the platform, finding a seemingly dead Magpie and a Dread Lord in battle with Ash-Hammer. I had a stroke of genus and pulled out the sand I had left over from the trip into the void and used it to make the Dread Lord solid, unfortunately my magic once again had unintended effects and Ash-Hammer became intangible. Standing alone on the platform against a Dread Lord and some cultists I managed to kill two of the cultists and harmed the dread lord unfortunately I was overcome and I lost my arm(again), and blacked out. When I awoke we were on the back of a dragon heading back to Witmouth, I was then informed Ash-Hammer was dead, Aria had tried to contact Bahal to resurrect him but Bahal refused, so I stepped up and brought Ash-Hammer back from beyond the black gate. Now this tale is light on both Hedwig and Aria, mostly this is because I had no Gods dammed clue what they were doing but they saved my life. Ash-Hammer's Report Many are gathered in the Wyvern's Rest as Ash-hammer is sitting on top of the bar. As you make your way through the crowd towards him your stomach starts to turn; Ash-hammer's entire bottom half is missing. The Dwarf's body stops at his belly button, where a sticky scar marks where a Dread Lord cleaved the Dwarven Fighter/Paladin in two. As you stare, Ash-hammer's eyes meet yours. His top half is identical to what it was before, all of it, except for his eyes. His eyes hold a coldness, a hunger, you feel his eye contact has 100 points of piercing. Ash-hammer is looking at you, and into your soul. You feel naked before this dwarf, your entire life laid defenseless for him to read, and he's judging. He lifts an entire keg of dwarvish ale, in one hand, and downs the lot. (You expect vomiting to ensue in a few moments.) "All right, calm yeselves and I'll tell you how it happened." "Xeno tells true how we got there, dragged through the ice by that tiny crystal o' his. Soon enough we were before the citadel. A Great Structure, its size makes a mouse of a mountain!" You notice ale starting to leak from some unseen wound in Ash-hammer's torso. Spreading across the bar top. "But before it, we saw the great workings of cultist magic. The frame of a portal, as large as a castle! In its threshold cultists were willingly having their throats opened, fueling some great power. Xeno weaved a great spell to turn Magpie into a celestial dragon, Magpie emanated great heat and took flight. I leaped up and grabbed on to a scolding hot part of his leg. Magpie flew and smashed himself full bore into the frame of the portal, leaving a great dent in it. I was unfortunately dropped to the ground, unhurt. "As Magpie turned for a second run, a Dread Lord appeared on the field of battle. Finally a worthy foe for a champion of Ashosh! I issued a challenge to the beast, in return it waved its hand, and despite my great Constitution, I was filled with pain. Have it your way Dread Lord, I charged. "I saw Magpie fall dead as he destroyed the frame of the portal. And I engaged the Dread Lord, I weaved under its attacks and swung Chainbreaker at the Lord... Despite all my strength... my weapon did nothing. It was as I feared, I had come hear to die. "I was able to keep the Dread Lord at bay for some time, long enough to take hold of the dagger they were using to sacrifice themselves. I felt a thousand souls assault my mind, but I held firm! I threw the dagger at the Dread Lord, and watched it recoil in pain! "It was at that point that Xeno came to my aid as I stood against this terrible foe. With some dust he cast a spell to make the Dread Lord physical... Unfortunately I was also made unsubstantial. I swung and swung at the Dread Lord, but I could do nothing. Xeno had taken me out of the fight! "As I was unable to aid, I watched as Xeno was killed by the Dread Lord-ripping his new arm from its socket. As Xeno died, the magics wore off, the Dread Lord and I were returned to our normal compositions. "All of a sudden Hedwig, and *Ash-hammer spits*, arrived on the back of a Dragon. The beast scooped up Xeno and Magpie, and called to me "I'm leaving, this is your only chance." "No thanks Dragon! Ashosh requires me to not suffer evil to live. It's a matter of principle, even I can do naught." "I turned and marched towards the Dread Lord, Hedwig swinging her staff at my head. Then out of the blue, as I was about to face my foe, *Ash-hammer spits a giant glob of blood and phlegm on the bar* sent her monstrous bird to swoop in and pick me up. "I was completely unable to move, in the grip of that bird, as the Dread Lord swiped at me! Its talons cleaved me in two! The last thing I saw, as everything went black, was my pelvis and legs falling to the ground. That f**king elf and her pet got me killed! And made me fail my Ashosh giving quest! "I then woke up in Whitmouth, thanks to Xeno and Ashosh. I was so proud to see Xeno work with a God of Order for me. But now I hunger... Let me warn you now, citizens of Whitmouth. If you cross me, if you cross the Justice that Ashosh the Fist stands for. Your soul is forfeit. Mine to claim." Ash-hammer's gaze returns to you, and a small smile crosses the Dwarf's face. He looks hungry. Miller comes up to Ash-hammer, and after a whispering of words you see Miller hand over a small pill. In exchange Miller walks off with Ash-hammer's house key. You later see Miller, carrying one of Ash-hammers Bean Bags... You know it to be filled to the brim with gold coin. Hedwig's Report Xeno enchanted Ash-hammer's weapon with my void sand and the power of Ashosh. He then carried us on a wave of heat to somewhere a few days from the shadow citadel. It was dark and cold, with impenetrable clouds above. The snow was crusted over like it had been there for years. We turned a piece of evil ice (alignment 'morally ambiguous') from the dark citadel into a magnet. It dragged Xeno and Ash-hammer off, with the rest of us following. Giant bats made of shadow attacked us. Somebody accidentally started a flash flood. Later, we were attacked by two giant shadow wyrms. One of them swallowed Ash-hammer but Magpie burnt a hole in it and pulled him out. We crested a hill and saw a valley filled with shadow, and behind it the citadel. drew a picture which should be floating around somewhere. We could also see an absolutely gigantic archway made of ice. Willing cultists lined up in front of it to have their throats slit, blood gushing into a ceremonial bowl. Xeno said they were summoning something. Xeno turned Magpie into a huge flaming celestial dragon, who charged into the ice arch and cultists alongside Ash-hammer. Aria and I and rode her hawk towards some dragons she spotted tied up with chains of shadow. A cultist touched one of the dragons, winking it out of existence and leaving behind a shadow dragon. (Incidentally, in my judgement, this procedure could be reversed). Xeno meanwhile had accidentally opened a magma filled crack beneath himself, so he turned into a comet and came smashing into the dragons, freeing them. Some cultists managed to summon a dread lord from the nearby citadel. Unfortunately at this point the enchantment on Ash-hammer's hammer dissipated. Aria and I struggled with shadow cultists while trying to finish off the shadow dragon, hoping the other dragon would help take down the shadow lord. Aria got hit with dragon fire, but survived by the skin of her teeth. Magpie charged into the ice gate and finally shattered it, taking several blasts from some shadow mages. He dropped to the ground, apparently dead. Xeno, enraged, joined the attack on the shadow lord. A vicious attack took off his recently-returned arm, but he grew a great fiery tendril from his gaping shoulder and attacked anew. He then tried to use his own void sand to turn the dread lord tangible; which worked, unfortunately Ash-hammer was then turned intangible at the same time. Xeno was then felled, as Magpie struggled back into consciousness. In return for our help, the dragon Jayde offered to carry us all to safety. Magpie and Xeno, clinging to the edge of life, struggled onto the dragon. Ash-hammer refused to retreat, saying this was his quest from Ashosh and he could not back out. We tried to reason with him, but he strode into battle. Aria sent her hawk to pick up Ash-hammer. Unfortunately the hawk was not quick enough to save him from the talons of the Dark Lord, who sliced him in two at the middle. The dragon set us down at the edge of colonised Mithrasia. I gave her means of contacting me and requested the honour of joining any attacks on shadow lords. She warmed up to me a bit at that. A recovering Xeno resurrected Ash-hammer. He is without his legs and some of his torso, and pale. His eyes burn with a hard light. I don't know what will come of this. I am glad we stopped whatever ritual the cultists were performing. Judging the size of the gate, it could have summoned another dread lord to this plane, or worse, several of them. I don't think, however, that I can call this mission a successs. Hedwig. Aria's report Aria set off on a mission with Magpie, Xeno and Ash-Hammer to the shadow lord citadel via Xeno's portal. On our way from the portal to the citadel we got attacked by shadow bats and then by shadow snakes (think Dune style worms). Magpie dealt with one of these by ripping a hole in the middle of it and then trying to burn it from the inside. When we got close to the the citadel we could see witch lights in the valley surrounding it, this turned out to be a swarm of shadows that took individual form as we approached. We could see a giant ice gate and hundreds of *people* being sacrificed to it by cultists. Xeno turned Magpie into a celestial dragon to deal with the gate and Ash-Hammer held on to get a ride closer. Hedwig and I headed to some dragons we could hear crying out. Xeno used his magic and managed to get there first. One of the cultists touched a dragon and turned them into a kind of inverse shadow. The shadow dragon and a normal dragon got into a fight, and unfortunately I got blasted by the dragons breath and my sword the Light of Ganev (otherwise known as Alan) melted. Poor Alan he will be missed. After the dragons battle, I healed the wounded dragon and in return she promised to fly us home if we left right now. Hedwig flattered her into helping the others as well. We headed to find that Magpie and Xeno were both not well and Ash-Hammer wanted to continue the fight. However, without a magic weapon I didn't think he should take on the forming shadow army or dread lord so I sent my giant hawk to bring him to the dragon. My hawk picked up Ash-Hammer just as the dread lord took a final swipe and took his legs. Once we got back to the outskirts of Whitmouth I performed first aid on Magpie and Xeno, but could not convince Bahal that he should help resurrect a follower of Ashosh (and after seeing how he came back I can see why). Xeno performed some unusual magic and bought Ash-Hammer back into a hungry undead torso. Category:Actual Play Category:Shadows Category:Shadow Lords Category:Dragon